NADAL THE NO.1 BOBBY DAZZLER
HE’S still the top man. Next Monday when the new world rankings are out, Rafael Nadal is now guaranteed to retain his No.1 spot.
Nothing terribly new there. It will be the 180th week during his career that the Spaniard has officially been the greatest tennis player in the world.
But the thrills that Nadal was serving up on Centre Court were enough to keep 1966 World Cup hero Sir Bobby Charlton glued to his seat – even though that meant missing the start of England’s World Cup clash with Sweden.
Nadal, 32, nailed down that No.1 ranking with a three-set victory over rising Australian teenager Alex De Minaur.
But if Nadal doesn’t finish this tournament holding aloft the Wimbledon trophy for the third time in his career, then that place at the top of the heap won’t mean much to him.
“Of course I prefer to be No.1 than No.2, no doubt about this,” Nadal said, after the entertaining two-hour exhibition, which he won 6-1 6-2 6-4.
“But I really didn’t come here to be No.1. I came here to try to do the best tournament possible. Maybe back in 2008 when I first achieved that world ranking it meant more.
“I felt like I had been playing that well for three years without being No.1, so it was important for me to finally get there.
“But today is a different story. The ranking is not my biggest goal. The most important thing for me is to be healthy, to be happy, playing good tennis. Those things are very close.”
Nadal was delighted that Charlton was transfixed. “That’s a great feeling that he stayed,” said the Spaniard. “Can I just say thanks to him for respecting our sport that much.”
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO may face tougher opponents in the second week of Wimbledon, but he is unlikely to face anyone noisier than Benoit Paire.
Del Potro subdued the Frenchman 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, to move into the last-16, but he never silenced an opponent who buzzed with rage.
Paire smashed his racquet against his chair, and told the umpire, “You are a zero!”
Del Potro said: “It is always a pleasure to play against Benoit.”